Louie the Lion

[beakycheekie]

Hello, I'm new here and have posted a couple of questions. One in the diet section and one in the introductions. I've done a lot of reading on the forum and it has been so helpful to see other people's questions and answers! I've been doing so much research on GCC and aggression but I have as of yet to see anyone else with the same kind of aggression issues that I am dealing with. Although he is small in stature, I swear this is a lion in a conure's body. Does anyone have any idea as to why he stalks and attacks my hands and arms? I have read about parrots that don't like particular people, or hands reaching for them in their cage, etc. and all of that makes sense but that is not Louie's behavior. Louie, like a typical GCC wants to be on me at all times but then while he is there I spend a lot of time distracting him from my hands and short sleeved shirts? Forget about 'em. He attacks arms viciously in them. He displays aggressive body posture before he bites such as tail fanning, head feathers puffed, strutting, I swear he looks like he is hunting like a predator. Why in the world is my bird doing this?
(In case you didn't see my introduction Louie is a 3 year old GCC, sex unknown, adopted about 1 month ago from a shelter, history unknown besides age).

[Wolf]

The actual description of Louie's behavior is nearly Identical to the behavior that Kiki Senegal shows when she has decided that something is hers and does not want to be moved away from it or when she goes after either feet or shoes. She know the difference between shoes and feet but still treats them the same way.

May I ask what you did during the first month of having Louie to win his trust? Since you are not new to having birds what kind of routine did you establish with him during his first month and what did you do for interaction with him? I am trying to get a more complete picture of what occurs in his current daily life.

Since we know almost nothing about his previous life it is hard to tell if he learned that he could get his way with the previous owner by biting and attacking them or what, but it is a possibility. GCC's are very needy birds and it seems that they also have an idea of how much time that they must have ( in their opinion ) on you or at least interacting with you and if they do not get it they quickly resort to biting to get it. They do not always forgive their human quickly for violating this basic amount of time for interacting with them so the human tends to have to put up with the bites until the bird forgives them for it. This appears to be pretty much a trait of this species of parrot, but once you get past this and as long as they receive the time that they think that they need they are very affectionate birds.

Although I don't have this species of parrot it does remind me a lot of how Kiki Senegal was for the first year of out relationship as it appeared to me that during that first year she was trying her very best to eat me alive since I was too big for her to kill. I have already shared with you about all that I can think of to help you with the actual biting behavior. but it is possible that you may have to wait it out or find some way to win her trust to end this behavior. Maybe someone else has more ideas that might help you with this.

[beakycheekie]

Hi Wolf,
That's interesting that you say Kiki Senegal behaves this way when she's being possessive about something because when Louie is being possessive of a toy or food he also displays this behavior (puffed up head feathers, tail fanned, lunging aggressively) and it's the same behavior he displays when he's stalking hands and arms (and feet too, actually. Maybe stalking feet is just a parrot thing...). So maybe he is being possessive of me and my shoulder and is trying to keep my arms and hands away from him so I don't remove him?? I don't know because I'm not trying to move him at all when he stalks, he just does it seemingly "out of nowhere."
It has been a difficult bonding/settling in period. I realize with hindsight now that I probably chose the wrong species of parrot. I had no idea GCC were so needy. I'm not used to birds like that. Well, to bond with Louie I try to spend as much time as possible with him, which is what he wants. He sits on me constantly, usually for about 2-3 hours a day on weekdays, mostly in the evening (much more on weekends). We eat dinner together, we do little training sessions for basic little tricks, we play with toys, he gets to just hang out on me while I watch tv or am on my computer. I'm not sure what else to do to bond with him other than just to include him in the things I'm doing around the house. Any suggestions for other bonding things I could be doing with him?
It is a relief to hear that other people have struggled with their parrot being aggressive. It feels so frustrating and discouraging. I work at the animal shelter I have adopted all of my birds from, and knowing as much as I do about dog and cat psychology and behavior, I have to say that they are a piece of cake compared to birds!!

[Pajarita]

Actually, we have another member who adopted a VERY aggressive GCC. Check the thread called Hello and request for help in the Introductions forum and you'll see.

[marie83]

Ollie goes through stages of nippiness but it's usually avoidable if I'm paying enough attention!
We did go through about 3 months before Christmas where he was an absolute demon though and he was flying across the room to attack me and he wouldn't stop- just kept coming back for more.
It stopped a few days before we got our second green cheek with the exception on one isolated incidence- I still don't trust him around my face though

[beakycheekie]

Pajarita, thank you for directing me to Mikella's thread. I am astounded. Her GCC's behavior is literally the exact same as mine. I hadn't found anyone else who was struggling with the same kind of aggression issues as me and here she is with the same problem. Amazing. I read through the entire thread and you and Wolf's suggestions and explanations are so helpful.
Mikella's thread ends months ago. It doesn't look like she's posted anything recently which makes me wonder if she doesn't have the bird anymore. I sent her a pm to ask if she does. What I'd really love to know is if her GCC improved?

[Pajarita]

Oh, no, Mikella still has Quigley and he has gotten 100 times better! She pms me every now and then - that's how I know.